Zimbabwe: Journalists, Condoms, and Eating Elephants

According to reports from IOL in South Africa, the government of Mugabe has decided to increase the fee for foreign media organizations from $20000.00 to $30000.00 with journalists paying $2000.00 if they are from Zimbabwe but working with foreign media organizations.

The fee for foreigners working in Zimbabwe with foreign media organizations are $1000.00 with an accreditation fee of $3000.00. This is to comply with a law passed by ZANU-PF Mugabe in which foreign media organizations and journalists are mandated to register with a Media Commission appointed by the Zimbabwe Government.

The law is also known as the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act.

Civicus which is an alliance of civil society organizations around the world were able to sidestep the requirements by secretly filming in Zimbabwe in December 2008. The result of the secret filming is the film "Time 2 Act" which reveals the true state of affairs in Zimbabwe.

The film is being sent to members of the South African Government, the ruling African National Congress, and the Southern African Development Community as well as the African Union. In the film, a citizen of Zimbabwe declared that Mugabe "was using Zimbabwe like a condom".

The Zimbabwe Solidarity Forum is assembling a list of South African Companies that continue to do business in Zimbabwe in the hope that pressure could be applied against them. The Forum received its inspiration from the Anti Apartheid Movement in South Africa and the same movements that fought against the white ruled Rhodesian Government that preceded Mugabe.

In another developing story from the BBC, Johnny Rodrigues of the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force has reported that members of the military are being given ELEPHANT MEAT to eat. Is there anybody listening?.

I have visited the website of the Zimbabwean Conservation Task Force to check on atrocities committed against wildlife. An invitation for an interview has been E Mailed to them. As soon as there is a reply and a possible interview, Now Public will receive it exclusively.

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=68&art_id=vn20090109064220863C825049

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=68&art_id=nw20090106105211773C168703

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7820885.stm

http://www.zctf.mweb.co.zw/